


The Nature of Change. Spring

by SolarQueen



Series: Soul of a Dragon [1]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: - with a few changes -, Alternate Universe - No Avatar (Avatar TV), Azula & Zuko (Avatar) Have a Good Relationship, Canonical Child Abuse, Firelord Iroh (Avatar), Gen, HTTYD AU, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Piandao has Dad Behaviour, Protective Azula (Avatar), Protective Iroh (Avatar), Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, You'll want to fight Iroh before you wanna hug him, Zuko doesn't have his scar, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, canonverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:34:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29186358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolarQueen/pseuds/SolarQueen
Summary: The world is filled with numerous little hazards, but none more deadly than the assorted dragons that plague every forest, mountain and shore.The Fire Nation is best known for its proficiency in training the warriors of every town, village, and tribe of the known lands. Every Prince, Princess, and Firelord has had their opportunity to train and kill their first dragon by the age of fifteen.All except Prince Zuko.When Prince Ozai shoots down a shadow in the night and doesn't even notice, his son takes off after it and sets into motion more than he, or anyone around him, could have ever dreamed of.
Relationships: Azula & Jet (Avatar), Azula & Mai & Ty Lee, Azula & Piandao (Avatar), Azula & Sokka (Avatar), Azula & Toph Beifong, Azula & Zuko (Avatar), Azula/Suki/Yue (Avatar), Druk & Zuko (Avatar), Hakoda & Sokka (Avatar), Jet & Sokka (Avatar), Jet & Yue (Avatar), Jet & Zuko (Avatar), Mai & Ty Lee & Zuko, Piandao & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Yue (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Jet, Toph Beifong & Sokka, Toph Beifong & Yue, Toph Beifong & Zuko, Yue & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Soul of a Dragon [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2144142
Comments: 15
Kudos: 40





	The Nature of Change. Spring

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, here we are, my second fic of the Zukka fandom, and one where Zukka is kind of secondary until later 😌  
> We have a short chapter to start because that seems to be my thing, but definitely expect them to progressively get longer as I manage to cram more into every chapter.
> 
> For those reading my other fic, I am working on it, I promise, I just wanted to start this while I had the buzz and my classes have started again so my sleep schedule has to be normal (RIP) ~ updates for this will be here and there but I'll try not to leave it for too long, just gotta work towards that degree yk ✨
> 
> And, yes, this is a series, so, if you commit you're stuck with me for a long time and I apologise in advance :]  
> (also in the end note you'll find my Tumblr so, like, come hang there if you want)
> 
> ~ Would like to add a lil bby thank you to my girl Gorin for letting me brainstorm much of this with her, even with the amount of screaming I caused 💛 ~

Caldera, Fire Nation. It’s two days south of dangerous and four days east of stifling; blazing hot nine months of the year and flooding storms the other three, it’s not the worst place to live. Built into the crater of a volcano, the city is an old site with mostly new buildings. The people live out their days selling on the market, trailing the cobbled roads, taking a dip in the lake, or going to the theatre.

Or, well, fending off the ‘hazards’.

...Dragons.

Caldera is noted to have one of the most extraordinary training regimes in the known world, what with the invasion of such creatures all across every Nation, it’s important for the people to know how to defend themselves. Especially with the growing frequency of their raids. 

Dragons are killers, they bend just like humans do, making nowhere safe. 

One hundred years ago when the threat became awfully real, the Fire Nation upped its training, many of the other Nations attempted to follow, finding travelling to Caldera the smartest bet. No one could beat creatures descendent of Agni like his children could; even those of other species found it difficult to snuff out the stubborn spirit of Firebenders.

The Air Nomads? They went into hiding, they haven’t been seen since. Cowards, sympathisers to beasts tearing villages and families apart, that’s all anyone ever knew. All anyone knows.

What happens in Caldera, now, starts with a Prince. An awkward, stubborn Prince with a complicated family.

It begins with him. Him and his inability to kill a dragon.

* * *

The docks for Caldera are full, bustling with people ready to catch a glimpse at the visitors on the oncoming ships; they’re barely bigger than specks on the horizon at this moment, but the people know what’s coming.

The sail-driven, wooden boats of the two Water Tribes lead the pack, aided by the wind coming up from the south. They hold only the most capable young fighters of their people, which, rumour has it this year, happens to be the children of a few leaders, or something adjacent. 

The steam-powered ships of the Earth Kingdom follow behind, more obvious in their mite from not only their bigger size but also the clouds their chimneys puff into the sky. Aboard there’s who knows what sort of people, the Earth Kingdom is a vast, diverse region with hundreds of people wanting to get the acceptance hawk for training.

Whoever arrives today, they’ll become the best of the best. That’s the Fire Nation promise.

Zuko can just about see it all from where he is, sitting atop the smithy roof with his hair down around his shoulders; the breeze blows through it easily, brushing it away from his face. He’s not supposed to be up here - too high up with the smithy already being on higher ground _apparently_ \- but he needed a break, a breather, and this is where he always ends up. Though today he probably should have picked somewhere lower.

He’s not sure what to feel with the approaching ships, not really. Last year he finally came of age to participate in dragon training, the one thing that may have saved him from the scrutinising eyes of his father. But come spaces for the class opening, he wasn’t enrolled.

He was the first Royal to not be enrolled immediately come their fifteenth birthday. The kind of stain that leaves on a future-Crown-Prince’s reputation is dark and ugly, should he ever take the throne his people aren’t likely to take him seriously. He’ll be the first Firelord to have never taken training, to have never killed a dragon and mounted its head on the walls of the great hall

Not that he thinks he’d have ever been able to do it. He knows how to fight, _everyone_ knows he knows how to fight, but sometimes the dragons just look like big iguanas and Zuko cried that one time he stood on one’s tail. 

He can’t even kill a bird, let alone a _dragon_. 

But that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt to get _told_ that.

Especially when even Uncle is wary about letting him anywhere near the colosseum. Especially when Mai, gives him that dry yet sympathetic look every time they wander past the training grounds. Especially when Azula’s in the class this year, a year _younger_ than she should be.

So here these ships approach, full of high-potential youths who’ll goad and laugh at him again like the last ones did.

“Zuko.”

He purses his lips, taking a slow intake of air before shuffling to the edge of the roof and looking down. Piandao looks back at him, arms folded and leaning back with that _look_ on his face that tells him the blacksmith knows something is wrong but doesn’t want to ask. Perhaps he doesn’t really need to.

“I’m not resharpening all these weapons myself.”

There it is.

Zuko huffs, refraining from rolling his eyes as he slides the rest of the way down the roof and takes a leaping roll to reach the ground. He brushes the dirt from his clothes and shakes his head to rid it from his hair before Piandao grabs his collar and yanks him back with the slightest yelp.

“When will I be able to stop asking you to not jump off my roof?” He asks, forcing Zuko to endure the annoying task of pooling his hair up into its top knot.

Zuko crosses his arms, his glare forced outwards towards the imposing figure of the palace, “I don’t know, when it stops being fun?”

There’s a tug (an _ow_ ) and then Piandao’s hand comes to the side of his face, palm up, and Zuko yanks the hair tie off his wrist; there’s a breath of a second before his hair is wrestled into it, now prim and proper as a _Prince_ should be. 

Piandao probably notices the tie is Azula’s, the scorch marks on one fraying side give it away.

“Come and do your job now, Your Highness.”

Likely, if Zuko were any other Royal, he’d sulk and complain the whole time about having to be a blacksmith’s _apprentice_ . Like many of his _wonderful_ accomplishments, this doesn’t bode well for the people’s trust in him should he not die before he becomes Firelord - according to Father, at the very least. 

But, Zuko finds it one of his favourite things to do, it’s close enough to the colosseum he can walk there after his shifts to watch training, and it’s far enough from home he has plenty of excuses to avoid it until after sundown.

He jumps through the sales window to get inside without having to wait for Piandao to slide his way through the door; his apron hangs from a hook just beside the counter so he grabs that to throw over his head as well. 

Piandao enters with a slightly raised eyebrow, but sighs exasperatedly and shoos him off to one of the back rooms.

He heads there dutifully, though eyes the cart of dull weapons wearily. That’ll take a while.

No to mention, no one even knows when the next raid will be; the Fire Sages estimated at least another two weeks or so, but Zuko isn’t so sure. The dragons are either getting bolder, or more desperate, the last raid was mere days after the one before it.

Hence the pile of weapons he’s in charge of getting back up to working order.

He stretches his arms, then grabs his stool and slides it from his desk to the rotating whetstone he sets off. The spears the fastest to fix up, though some of them need new heads entirely, and that takes him a bit of time to get the bindings right so they won’t completely fall apart from a couple of test swings.

It’s as he places the first sword down on the whetstone that he hears something, a creak in the wood of the wall behind him. It comes from outside, that he’s sure of, but there’s the slightest noise above the last one, the source is moving up to the open hole closer to the ceiling that works as his window.

He stays quiet, placing the sword on the ground beside his stool to pull his knife from his boot. As he moves the noise comes to the main windowsill, spinning on his heel and throwing it upwards. 

Azula catches the knife by the blade between her fingers, her golden eyes glinting with a hint of pride even as they scan up his form to his hair, “Zuzu is that my hair-tie?”

“ _Spirits_ , Azula!” He exclaims, hand over his heart as he stares up at her, “I could have cut your face off!”

She scoffs, hopping down from the window ledge and tossing his knife back to him, “please, if one of us is going to end up with a horrible face wound it’ll be you.”

He eyes her, slipping the blade back into his boot as she saunters over to his desk and seats herself atop it, “what are you doing here?”

She’d usually be with Mai and Ty Lee at this hour, wandering the market or watching the spars at the colosseum, observing the stronger fighters and either noting some of their more effective moves or criticising every bit of footwork they performed in her head.

“I just escaped Father and Uncle’s very long meeting about my fellow incoming students,” she says, rolling her eyes and scrutinising her nails.

He slumps back into his stool, resting his elbows on his knees and propping his chin up, “and?”

Azula’s fist clenches, “and the Northern Water Tribe Princess is _gorgeous_ , she’s not in training though, she’s here with her father to support her little fiance.”

“You don’t sound exactly impressed by him.” Zuko raises an eyebrow.

She pushes off his desk and starts pacing the length of his quite-small workspace, “first of all he’s two years older than you and has only been enrolled now because they think he’s capable, which doesn’t bode well at all when even the Southern Chief’s son is of age. I mean, _come on_ , she’s of age but no! The North have some gall to think women can’t fight,” she whirls at him, throwing her arms out, “how infuriating is that!”

He stares at her, deadpan, “very.”

She continues, “not to mention, the two more impressive Earth Kingdom students in my class? One of them is a twelve-year-old girl, and the other one is some runaway bodyguard for her _your_ age.”

Okay, that’s _something_ , what could a kid do to get accepted into _Azula’s_ class out of all of them? And why would a kid like _that_ have a bodyguard anyway? That’s-

Azula huffs out sparks, “back to my point-!”

The door slides open and she clamps her mouth shut, spinning on her heel and crossing her arms, staring down Piandao.

“I do hope your unexpected visit is not to distract you brother with mindless gossip, Princess,” he says, arms behind his back with the slightest upward quirk of his lip.

Azula turns her nose up, “wouldn’t you like to know.”

He tilts his head, “I didn’t hear word of a ‘gorgeous Princess’ from the North?”

“He’s got you there,” Zuko snorts, his shoulders hunching as he chuckles into his hand.

Azula, doing really well at holding the redness that creeps up her neck back, points back at Zuko, “Zuko thinks the Southern Chief’s son is pretty!”

“Wh-” he coughs, pushing off his stool with enough force to knock it over, “I don’t even know what he looks like!”

“Your Highnesses,” Piandao speaks over them easily, he doesn’t shout, he barely raises his voice, but they both shut up after making a face at each other. He looks to Azula, “if I may ask you to allow your brother to continue his work? You wouldn’t want your people weaponless come the next raid, would you.”

She blows a strand of hair away from her face, “ _fine_.” 

He nods at her and then she snatches one of Zuko’s pencils from his desk as she makes her escape back to the window. At the top, she looks at him, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

“I’ll be sure to steer the official tour up here.” 

Zuko glares, “don’t you dare!”

But she’s already gone, jumping from the windowsill and on her way back down to the main street to either find Mai and Ty Lee, or head straight to the dock. For once Zuko would prefer the latter.

Piandao only stares almost fondly at the empty space his little sister had been moments before, that stare panning down to Zuko as he rights his stool and drops back onto it.

“She becomes more like you every day.”

“She does _not_.”

Piandao only chuckles, leaving the room and Zuko to his pile of swords.

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on [Tumblr](https://lion-hearts136.tumblr.com/) interaction and validation is my main fuel lmao 💛


End file.
